A girl can still dream. Those people are my anchors and journalism mentors.

I have wanted to do a post about Nick Clooney for a long time.

Yes, he is the father of some famous actor we may have seen on the big and small screens and we’ve drank his Tequila like there was no tomorrow ( I sure did) and still, didn’t have the worst hangover.

Nicholas Clooney (the same given name as my father) is so fascinating. He was a well-known anchorman and television host for so many years.

He was a true leader in his field. But, he displays the definition of what it means to be a true leader with his actions.

He protested for the Sudanese with pride, even though he got arrested along with his son.

That shows you the man he is. Someone not afraid to fight the good fight. This is something that his son will probably pass down to his children.

In my eyes, this is the most beautiful legacy a man could leave to his descendants.

While watching David Letterman’s show last night on Netflix, I was so happy and touched by the generosity of all the Clooneys for sponsoring a very courageous Yazidi man named Hazim Avdal (and he is a good driver).

There is goodness around us. We just need to open our eyes and our hearts.

If you have the chance to watch it on Netflix, please do!

Mr. Clooney. Thank you for being one of my inspirations and in a way, one of my mentors.

Why have the Montreal Canadians failed to maximize the potential of their most gifted players for years?

This is a question I am always asking myself.

In the 80s, I was too young and dumb to fully understand why Guy Lafleur decided to hang up his skates on November 26, 1984.

I remember asking my dad why the Flower, as we called him, decided to retire so suddenly. His answer was blunt. He said it in his French Canadian/Haitian accent: he is done, he doesn’t have it anymore.

You can’t blame my dad for his opinion at the time. Guy Lafleur was having a miserable season,only scoring two goals and three assists after 19 games, failing to realize that the real culprit of hisstruggles was Jacques Lemaire‘s defensive system. His ice-time had been reduced and he was asked to play a more defense-oriented game.

We cannot blame Jacques Lemaire though.

At that moment, The Habs finally got past the second round of the playoffs after years of getting bounced out of the playoffs early. This had happened four straight years in a row, despite having some great regular seasons. Jacques Lemaire had something to do with it.

But his system, known as the TRAP, was a bad fit for a free-spirited, creative player like Guy Lafleur. The system was made for more disciplined and defensive, responsible players like another Guy…

Guy Carbonneau.

If you have followed The Habs for the past three decades, you’ll know either one of these twoscenarios happened frequently:

Scenario 1:

A homegrown talent struggling to perform constantly with The Habs only to flourish with another team. I’m thinking of John LeClair and if The Habs are not careful this time around, Alex Galchenyuk will be the latest example.

Speaking of John LeClair, I remember years ago when Randy Tieman, the longtime sportscaster on the Montreal scene was sharing a conversation he had with John Leclair on his radio show, TEAM690 (Now TSN690).

LeClair said the difference in playing for The Habs versus the Flyers was his main focus, which was to backcheck and make sure he did not miss his defensive assignments.

As soon as he joined the Flyers, they inserted him immediately, along with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg. They were told to: Be yourself, go in front of the net and be big and strong, go in front of the net and wreak havoc.

The rest is history. John LeClair reached his immense potential by producing three straight 50 goal seasons, plus two straight 40 goal seasonsduring the dead puck era. When you hear his name, you immediately think of the Legion of Doom. Not the famous Wrestling tag-team of course, but one of the most famous lines in the history of hockey, the Line of Lindros-Leclair-Renberg.

Scenario 2:

With a desperate need for offense, The Montreal Canadiens made a big trade to acquire an extremely talented player, hoping to fix the team’s problem scoring goals; only for that same player to be criticized by the media for a lack of production and to be marginalized by the organization because of the player deficiencies in the defensive part of the game.

Remember Pierre Turgeon?

He came as a number one centre from the New York Islanders when he was acquired in return for Kirk Muller.

He finished his stay with the Habs on the the third line, not even playing centre. He basically got the Galchenyuk treatment, even before Alex Galchenyuk. We must thank Mario Tremblay with a pinch of sarcasm.

Similarly, this past summer, the Habs sacrificed their best prospect, Mikhail Sergachev, to acquire the playmaking winger named Jonathan Drouin, who for some reason is now the team’s number one centre, hoping to boost the team’s offensive output.

For now, it seems the experiment failed miserably this season. I somewhat disagreed with the trade at the time. But, it would be criminal to put all the blame on the shoulders of Jonathan Drouin.

Max Pacioretty did criticize Julien’s system a couple times in front of the media in an attempt to explain the team’s failure to generate much offense.

A lot of fans and members of the media are clamoring for a major rebuild of the team after this season. I don’t disagree with that sentiment.

But, what The Habs really need is a culture change. A culture that will allow players like Jonathan Drouin and Alex Galchenyuk to become an offensive force.

A culture that will embrace players like P.K. Subban instead chasing him out of Montreal for reasons that have nothing to do with hockey.

A culture that will seek greatness at all costs.

It’s time to bring back the spirit of the Flying Frenchman.

A spirit that left the Montreal Canadiens when the organization gave Guy Lafleur no choice but to quit the sport he loved way too prematurely.

She is truly one of the coolest woman that I had the honor to interview. She is our first Chronicle’s interview of the year and let me tell you, it will be a fun one with The Skin Guru of Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama. She is all about empowering women and taking a better care of our skin and our soul too.

Let’s get this party started.

SD: I’m curious, Jennifer. I need to ask you this question; when you were a young girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A) Teacher
B) Rocket Scientist
C) Doctor
D) All of the above
E) None of the above
F) Sabine, you forgot being a ballerina, the next Martha Stewart, or the Prime Minister of Canada…

JB: I have to say none of the above… However I love F!!! I wanted to be a criminal lawyer.

SD: Growing up in the 80’s, the era of air guitar, big perms, and the super glam makeup that we saw Joan Collins, Madonna and the 80’s Supermodels rocking, were you the kind of girl that went through her mom’s and sisters’ makeup bags, trying every lipstick and eyeliner, or were you the type that could spend hours analyzing the family medicine cabinet, touching every bottle of face cream in awe?

JB: You won’t believe this, but I wasn’t. Which is why I dont wear makeup today. I never practiced the foundation, eyeliner etc. That said in grade 5 and 6, I got a perm.

It was horrible!

SD:When did you realize the importance of taking a good care of your skin?

JB: As a teenager. I was fortunate to have easy skin. I noticed all the skincare creams and potions Gillian had (my best friend’s mom).

As a teen, we were pretty addicted to Kool-Aid and Tang…

SD: I sure was addicted to Tang and Kool-Aid as a kid and early teenager.

JB: Gillian always emphasized how sugar would be harmful for our skin.

It got me thinking, maybe the Apricot scrub and the Noxzema wasn’t such a good thing.SD: You made a 180 degree turn in your career when you launched your company around 2010. What was the turning point for you, leading you to make this courageous and bold decision?

JB: We acutally launched our first business in 2003, called Flip4.

This is where everything began with Max our LED device. In 2009, the world recession hurt us terribly. We made some very difficult decisions. We failed. Then, I decided to get up and open Bella. My first skincare clinic.

I thought, I have a trade skills, lets put them to use.SD: What did you learn about empowering other women and beng confident from the strong women in your life, like your mother, maybe sisters, friends, daughters, teachers, and high profile personalities like Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama?

JB: Working together, being there for each other is what counts without judgement. Everyone wants to be heard, acknowledged and loved. Even if we disagree. lifting each other up is what will change the world.

SD: Your mission in 2018 is to empower women. Can we have a sneek peak of what we may expect from the JB Skin Guru team this year?

JB: So much to come… but its all HUSH HUSH… The moment I can divulge I will let you know.

SD: This is my off-topic question. If you could throw the ultimate girlfriend party (please, can I be invited??), which songs would be your top 5 party songs to set the roof on fire?

JB: I am so bad at music and songs because I love everything…

Dancing Queen ABBA

Superwoman ALICIA KEYS

Run the world BEYONCE

Formation BEYONCE

Sisters are doing it for themselves EURYTHMICS

SD: I feel like the Skin Guru is a Queen B’s fan! That would be one heck of party.

SD: This generation of bloggers, web influencers and pop cultures junkies, like myself, want to bring this world a little more happiness, laughter, awareness, and altruism into every day, If you could choose one word of encouragement (or more if you want) to keep us going, what would it be?

JB: Authenticity

SD: Since I’m talking to the Skin Guru, I will ask some skincare advice. Here my list of questions. The first one is most important for skincare for a woman in her 30’s like myself in a living in a Montreal type of climate?

JB: Always wash you face every night, even if you are not wearing makeup.

SD: How do you balance acne treatment and aging treatment? Because they are opposite treatments?

JB: Well to be honest they are not opposite.

We have to look at the skin condition and then the skin type, make a list of priorities. Each section of the skin will be examined. From there we can tailor a bespoke approach.

It’s vital to look at the intrinsic and extrinsic causes.

SD: I am taking my next appointment to be pamper from the Skin Guru’s team for sure.

This Sunday my chronicle disciples, we will witness the last supper of the New England Patriots.

Some of you could be calling me crazy, but I feel the end is near for this groundbreaking dynasty.

Why?

One word.

Ego!

We all knew when The Beatles were starting to dissolve. It started with the Sgt Pepper album. Bryan Epstein died and they were like lost boys with their big brother managing the everything in between part of their band. Paul McCartney had this idea that they should do an album but not as The Beatles. They will be a totally different band.

The album was a new chapter for them and they were still the kings of Rock ‘N’ Roll. (For me, Revolver was the game changer for them).

Slowly but surely, the boys from Liverpool that shared the same ego,or maybe didn’t have any, were becoming men with four different egos and goals. On The White Album, it was so clear. When you listen to this album, it’s four solo projects thrown into one album.

Soon after, The Let It Be Album was the result of the new dynamic in the band and we could feel the end was near. You saw this band as a unit and they became a band with two members fighting to be the leader.

With this example, you can see where I am going.

Bill Belichick made sure, for so many years, that the boys didn’t bring ego into the locker room and onto the playground. He was the mastermind. They were united.

But slowly, things seemed to change. Tom Brady did a John Lennon himself, by bringing in his version of Yoko Ono aka his personal trainer into the team. He started talking like he was the man, the conquerer and the force behind The Pats.

Something seemed different. They had a damn good team but the cracks are starting to show.

The divorce will happen. Like The Fab Four that delivered their one last masterpiece, Abbey Road, as a farewell to all of us. The Patriots will win this Sunday. The only difference is some of them won’t know that things will never be the same.

They have two leaders now. One of them will send the divorce papers or say “I’m out”.

It’s won’t be Tom.

You guessed it! I predict Bill Belichick will leave, with class, and he will conquer the NFL with a brand new team.

The bets are in. Who’s with us?

Like the last song from The Beatles, here are some bittersweet lyrics:

The Patriots are going (again) to the Super Bowl. I’m not a happy camper.

And to make things worst, Philadelphia Eagles are joining the party.

For all the Steelers fans, Dallas Cowboys nation and others teams, it’s a nightmare.

But I must admit the Pats have this capacity of being a discipline team and they keep their cool under stressful situation.

Tom Brady is without a doubt The Greatest (ouch) QB of all time and he will have more rings than me in his jewelry box.

Honestly, how many rings that a man need in his fingers. I could hear the hubby saying the same thing for me.

My prediction for this year Super Bowl will be the Pats as winner but I think it will be their last and the end of the dynasty. We all know what is going on but no ones really want to tackle the subject as it is.

We do read here and there some glimpse but I will make this promise that you will read really soon our theory with the help of Donnie Demosthenes aka The Educated Fool.

But let’s be in the moment, I am putting my money on Belichick’s army.

In three weeks, my blood pressure (and the rest of NFL citizens) will be lower since there will be no more football on TV.

I guess it will be the right time to watch The Crown on Netflix, to learn how to do some scrapbooking and others activities right…